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Jadrek (archivist)
For other uses of 'Jadrek,' see the disambiguation page. Like his father before him, Jadrek was the Archivist of Rethwellan. He was no more popular with King Raschar, than his father had been with Raschar's father, King Destillion. The Archives had been bespelled by the first king of Rethwellan, a mage of the Leverand School, with an obsession for honesty. The Archives had to be kept-up-to-date, or something very bad (though unspecified) would happen. And once something had been entered into the Archives, it could not be removed or altered in any way. Being scrupulously accurate in their recordings did not make the Archivists much loved by the Monarchs. In Raschar's case, he also knew that Jadrek had been close to Idra, and he was concerned Jadrek might find out what Raschar had done to her. He kept Jadrek under close watch, and when he spoke with Tarma and Kethry, Raschar's assassin attacked. Warrl saved Jadrek, and all four escaped together, in search of Prince Stefansen. Knowing the ins and outs of the court, as well as his wide-ranging knowledge on a variety of other topics, Jadrek was a valuable leader in the Rethwellan coup that toppled Raschar from the throne. He was also the 'common man' in the Oathbreaker ritual that condemned and punished Raschar. In the course of their adventures, Jadrek fell in love with Kethry, though he didn't believe such a beautiful woman would ever be interested in a lame man half again her age. He was wrong. They married and he settled with Tarma and Kethry at their school in the south of Rethwellan. He and Kethry had numerous children, many of whom joined the Shin'a'in, becoming the core of a restored Clan Tale'sedrin. Jadrek was described as: "...a man of middle years, sandy hair going slightly to silver, his face was thin and ascetic and his forehead broad. His gray eyes held an echo of pain, and there were answering lines of pain about his generous mouth. That was an odd mouth; it looked as if it had been made expressly to smile, widely and often, but something had caused it to set in an expression of permanent cynicism. His gray tunic and breeches were of soft moleskin, and it almost seemed to Tarma that he wore them with the intent to fade into the background of wherever he might be." (Oathbreakers) Jadrek also suffered from something akin to a crippling form of arthritis. His joints were swollen and twisted, and he didn't move easily. Because Kethry cared so much about him, Need undertook to heal him as much as it could, easing his pain considerably and restoring much freedom of movement. Being treated with respect for his knowledge and wisdom by Prince Stefanson, Prince Roald, Tarma, Kethry and Warrl, went a long way to easing his mental and emotional stress, eliminating most of the cynicism Tarma had noted. Warrl, in particular, revered Jadrek for a wise man. As Jadrek was the only one besides Tarma who could routinely hear Warrl's Mindspeech, this also helped his ego a great deal. Music *The Archivist (song) In the series Jadrek appears in the following work: * Oathbreakers, Vows and Honor, volume 2 Category:Characters